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Manual Training

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 6, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 32.

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Manual Training

THERE is room for advancement in the teaching of this important subject in all our schools. Our children are to be trained to become missionaries, and they are to be so educated that they can cope with the emergencies met in the mission fields; they are to be able to help those who are weaker and less enlightened, and our system of education should always have this end directly in view. In order for this to be accomplished, our educational system must be practical. Our children must be taught the great value of manual work, that it is valuable and ennobling, and that it is to be done heartily and skilfully. They must be shown that only that kind of education is valuable which can be practically used. Of course we, as teachers, must have a comprehensive idea of what is practical.
When we teach our children to use their hands skilfully, we are giving to them a valuable training. We do not teach merely that our children may pass examinations; this is only a secondary consideration. Primarily, the end in view is the giving to our children the power to do work, and to do it well,—the ability and the courage to meet with and overcome obstacles, and to be sensible in dealing with all life's problems. Proper training of the hand and the eye and the whole body is one of the surest means to this end.
There is great opportunity for advancement in all our schools in agricultural lines. Our primary schools can have small gardens. During the winter our study should be of a nature to create a love for, and an understanding of, agricultural work. Much of this instruction may be given in the schoolroom at a time when the children can not work in their gardens. If this instruction is wisely given, it helps wonderfully in creating an ability to do intelligent work in a garden, and indeed to do well all kinds of manual work. Let us seek to create a deeper love for all forms of manual training in all our schools during this coming year.